The Debate...Hmmmmmmmmm

Well...that was interesting. I watched the debate...the whole thing. As a
result, I walked away with several distinct impressions and opinions.

1: I went into the debate supporting Fred Thompson and I still do
afterwards. I like where he stands on the issues, I like his approach to
the job - following the constitution and I like his presence. I saw nothing
this evening to change that position.

2: I do not want Mayor Giuliani or Governor Romni to get the nomination. I
felt they were camera and mic hogs, they didn't answer questions, but just
gave monologues about their records. They felt the debate was there for them
alone...I, I, I and me, me, me. Grow up gentlemen, there were eight of you
there.

3: On that note, I don't feel the distribution of the questions to the
candidates or the placement of the candidates on the stage was fair to the
less popular or well known ones. I really wanted to hear more from them and
CNN should have given all the candidates get equal air time.
Representatives Tancredo, Hunter and Governor Huckabee all made very good
points on the few questions sent their way. Granted, their actual chances
for President are slim, but what they have to say needs to be heard because
they form part of the entire set of Republican principles.

4: Senator McCain may say some good things...but in general he always sounds
tired and annoyed to me. We have had almost seven years of a President with
many good ideas who couldn't give them away even if they came with free gold
bars because he is one of the poorest public speaker I have ever seen in my
life. We don't need that again.

5: I do not want Representative Paul to get the nomination. I disagree with
his stance on the war on terror. However, I appreciate, greatly, his
determination not to run as an independent candidate. Doing so would divide
the Republican Party and could possibly put Hilliary in the White House. I
made the mistake of contributing to that in 1992 by voting for Ross Perot.
I hope that doesn't happen again.

6: I liked the answers to the question about if Roe v. Wade were to be
overturned. That decision was not a bad one because it allowed abortion but
because the Supreme Court illegally usurped the authority of the states. It
also isn't the president's job and that point was made very clear. The
constitution won here. If Roe v. Wade were overturned, debate would be hot
- and that's a good thing. In the end, however, abortion would remain legal
- almost unchanged from what it is now. It would just be the states
deciding how and when...as is their right under the constitution.

7: Regardless of who wins the GOP nomination, I will vote for them - even
Giuliani, Romney, McCain or Paul. Sometimes a vote isn't as much for one
candidate as it is against another. I do not want Hilliary Clinton to be
president...at all...ever. Someone asked me if my only possible choice was
either Obama or Hilliary, which would I pick? I said Obama because at least
he is for some things. Hilliary, aside from being abrasive, is for nothing
and against everything. Also, the dynasty needs to end. We need new blood
in the White House and I do not want Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton. 20 years of
those two families is enough!

That's my Layman's Point of View!

Your Papers, Please???

OK, there are days I feel like I have been living under a rock. Today is
one of those days. I JUST found out that in order to purchase Sudafed, I
would need to show my driver's license and sign a log book. Moreover, the
log book will be maintained by the pharmacist for two years. All this to
combat the crystal-meth problem. Well, I have no problem trying to take a
bite out of the drug problem in this country. Having grown up in the 70's,
people are amazed that I never experimented with drugs...not even pot.
That's right, I never just "not-inhaled," I never tried it at all. As a
parent, I'm even more in favor of stopping drugs. But something about this
law smacks of too much government control.

There have always been pharmaceuticals that could only be purchased from
behind the counter, presumably to keep them out of the hands of kids.
However, if this medicine could be potentially be used to make something so
dangerous, why allow its sale at all? Take it off the market. It wouldn't
be the first time the FDA pulled a drug from the shelves. At the very least
revert it to prescription status - those have always been tracked by doctors
and pharmacies anyway. The way it's being done now is too invasive.
Americans don't want to "present their papers" every time they turn around.
Maybe it's just the government's way to get people to wean themselves off
the stuff. Pharmaceutical companies are already producing cold medicines
with alternatives to pseudoephedrine in response to the law. It's a good
business decision.

The most confusing thing about this is making it part of the Patriot Act.
What is that all about? Isn't that for fighting terrorism? I like the idea
of making it easier to gather information on potential terrorists and to
share that information between intelligence agencies. But I don't think the
Patriot Act was ever meant to be an all-encompassing, cure all, "just
because we can add it here" thing. Where's the relevance? Including the
Sudafed restriction only gives more fuel to the fire that President Bush is
power hungry and illegally spying on private citizens.

When I hear about stuff like this law, even if it's a year or two too late,
it makes me long for 2008 all the more. I'm not saying I want Bush and
Chaney impeached - because that would give us Pelosi. And I'm sure that
when viewed through the prism of history, the "Dubya" will be vindicated and
seen as smarter on some things than currently perceived. Nevertheless, I am
at times relieved that he only has a little more than a year left in office.
After seven years, I am getting tired of defending him from critics when he
keeps "leading with his chin."

My Personal Veteran's Day Remembrance and Tribute

During World War II, many families had multiple sons serving. My family was no exception. My father is the youngest of thirteen children, born to Italian immigrants who came through Ellis Island in 1905 with their first three children in tow. They settled in the coal-mining region of North-central Pennsylvania before eventually relocating to the North shore of Long Island in 1929. By that point, all the children had arrived...my father was two years old. On December 7, 1941, my father was about two months shy of his 15th birthday. His eight older brothers, however, ranged in age from 21 to 40. When war was declared and the call for soldiers came, five of them answered.

My Uncle John, the oldest to enlist at 34, worked for a construction company and enlisted in the Navy. His skills were put to good use in the Sea-Bees where he quickly attained the rank of Chief Petty Officer. The story goes that, when he was preparing the beachheads in the opening hours of the D-Day invasions, he got his helmet shot off and picked up the nearest one he could find. Unknown to him, it was an officer's. When another officer told him he needed to find another helmet, Uncle Johnny, I am told, politely refused and suggested if it was so important, that the officer find one for him. My family stayed with Uncle John at his house in Montauk Point a couple of times when I was young. Eventually, he retired to Vero Beach, Florida, where he lived to 95, passing away quietly in 2002.

The next in line was my Uncle Sammy, my Godfather. Uncle Sam was 31 when he was drafted into the Army during the first wave of the draft in 1940. He was discharged in 1941 after serving his year, but was recalled in 1942. Uncle Sammy was an MP and stationed in Iran where he served as his unit's cook. Uncle Sammy always had a kidding, wisecracking side to his nature that we all loved. I'm sure he developed that in order to defend against the inevitable tormenting cooks in the military receive. I remember many Saturday afternoons over at his house just visiting, as we would often do. We also had a few family reunions there in the 70's - that was a crowd! Uncle Sammy passed away in 1982 of leukemia. It was tough to see someone so vibrant get sick like that and it especially hurt that I was not able to donate platelets because I was only 16. Ever since I turned 17, I have been donating blood as often as I can in his memory, and made my first aphaeresis donation this year.

My Uncle Albert, nicknamed Shadow, was 27 at the time the war started. He was in the coast artillery serving in New Guinea. According to my Dad, when he wasn't manning the guns, he was one of his unit's resident mechanics, fixing trucks and jeeps. At some point later in the war, he had a brief reunion with Uncle John, possibly in Borneo, as that was a staging area for the proposed invasion of Japan. I have seen a few pictures of Uncle Albert but, unfortunately, I know the least about him because we never met. He passed away in 1950 at just 36 from complications due to malaria. I did, however, grow up knowing his daughter and her family, who were always at every family event. When we went down to Long Island a few months ago for another uncle's birthday, she was there with her husband. Though it had been years since we'd seen each other, it was as if no time had passed.

Uncle Roy was about 25 in 1941. He served in the Air Transport Command and was stationed in England and Scotland. He was a flight engineer and acted as gunner on a few bombing raids. His only son was several years older than my sister and me, so by the time we would visit him and Aunt Selma, the only other "kid" in the house was their mini-schnauzer Suki. Uncle Roy was always the most quiet of my uncles - it was a dignified sort of quiet. One very vivid memory I have was at my High School's Homecoming parade and game in 1984, the year after I graduated. The class of 1934 was honored on its 50th anniversary, and Uncle Roy attended. When the honorees, then approaching 70, were called up to be recognized during the half-time festivities, Uncle Roy stood out. He was tall and dignified, sharply dressed, without a cane, or even a limp - perfect military bearing! Uncle Roy lived to 83 years of age and passed away in 1999.

The last of my uncles to serve was Uncle Tony, born in 1920, who was in the 82nd Airborne. The story with him was that when his unit parachuted into France one or two days after the D-Day invasion started, he was one of the lucky ones who landed on the right side of a hill. On the wrong side was a Nazi machine gun nest. His unit also helped in the rescue at the Battle of the Bulge, along with Patton's tanks and other infantry divisions. Uncle Tony was seven years older than my dad was, and as such, had to deal with a younger brother tagging along all the time. His nickname for my dad was "Gink." When one of his friends finally asked him what that meant, he said, "The little sonofabitch is following me again!" Uncle Tony carried on the large family tradition and had nine kids - bringing my total first cousin count to 31 on my dad's side. After being sick for some time, Uncle Tony passed away early last year at 85.

My dad has an article hanging in his apartment...a clipping actually...from the local paper, the Long Islander (founded by poet Walt Whitman). The story is about how my grandmother joined the ranks of other local women with multiple sons serving in the armed forces. At the end, it mentioned her youngest son, Frank Jr. who planned to enlist in the Army Air Corps as a pilot cadet when he was old enough. That day never officially came. Because he had five brothers already serving, he wasn't allowed to leave High School early. So, even though he was sworn in earlier in 1945, he actually reported for duty six days after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.

By that time, the Air Corps didn't need any new pilots, so they said they he could go home or pick some other field. Many of his friends in the same situation chose to go home, only to wind up back five years later for Korea. Dad, however, stayed and went to radar school. He remained in the Air Force (switchover in 1947) until 1948, leaving as a Corporal (Airman First Class). So, technically, that makes it six brothers who served during World War II. Dad says he really didn't serve in the war because he doesn't feel his time compares to his brothers' or others who were there during the real hostilities. But, the state of emergency was in effect for a few years after the war and anything could have happened. So, I give him credit for the time even if he doesn't feel it's deserved. Dad is still going strong at 80. In 1976, he and I made plans to celebrate the Tri-centennial together. I'll be 110 and he'll be 149.

Other members of my family also served.

My Uncle Jack was married to my father's next older sister, Catherine, and served in Korea. It was his 80th birthday we just celebrated recently on Long Island. Most of my Saturday evenings during the '70s were spent at their house after church, watching TV or just talking and hearing stories. Christmas and New Years was usually at their house - informal - open house - but always tons of great food. It was the house my father grew up in and the walls were covered in pictures and full of memories and stories.

My father-in-law, Wayne, is 79 and graduated High School at 16 in 1944. He trained as a pilot in P-51s toward the end of the war and was recalled toward the end of the Korean war to train in F-86s. Wayne was born in Kansas and eventually settled with his family in Southern California. He always has a lot of great stores about someplace or other he's visited or worked during his years in civil engineering.

Today, I thought about all of them, Uncles John, Sam, Albert, Roy, Tony and my father, Frank, Uncle Jack and Wayne. I am very grateful they all came home safely. Even though not all of them saw actual combat, I can't ever forget the sacrifices they were willing to make for the rest of us. I am writing this because it's important for stories like theirs to be told and retold. These men are more than just veterans from a long-ago war. They are my family and I honor and thank them for what they did.